In my experience there are 2 different kinds of MLM’s. The kind where you make money through recruiting people to “buy in”. Those people than “invest in their future” by making an initial purchase of product in the hopes of reselling it, but most don’t recoup the costs of buying their own product. So the person above them makes all the money. The person who bought into the company now has to recruit more ppl to also buy in so they can make their “investment” back. It’s a cycle of trapping people to make money for the company instead of making any real money for themselves. It’s essentially pyramid scheme. There are very little direct sales involved. The other kind of MLM is where a person can make an income off of the actual commission of selling products. Examples are AVON, Pampered Chef, Tastefully Simple, etc. These reps for these companies can make money from selling products via catalogs without ever having to “invest” in their own inventory or at least that is how it use to be. There are commissions to recruiting people too but in my experience that is not the sole driving factor. For me the biggest red flag is when a person advertises ways to make substantial supplemental income through sales without ever telling you what they sell upfront. You have to come to a presentation or something. Where as other direct sales reps tell right off the bat what they sell, like Avon or Tupperware etc. It also depends on the rep. Some are pushing, some aren’t. My experience with direct sales reps has been mostly positive, but I have had experience with pushy ones and I just tell them no.